Tony Dunn
5,518 posts
Tony Dunn
@tony873004
Orbit simulations of planets, comets, asteroids, spacecraft, and other interesting stuff. Amateur astronomer. BA: Physics & Astronomy, SFSU.
- Project Lyra explores the possibility of sending a spacecraft to chase 'Oumuamua using an Earth gravity assist to reach Jupiter, which robs the craft of almost all its speed, causing it to drop to the Sun for an Oberth maneuver. Thanks @hibberdadam994 for the trajectory data!
GIF - 3rd interstellar object discovered? Maybe. There's a lot of buzz right now in the Astro community. More observations should come in tonight to confirm if A11pI3Z is from beyond the solar system.
00:00 - The James Webb Space Telescope will fire its engines and brake into its halo orbit around L2 today. #JWST
GIF - An #asteroid passed just 300 km above Antarctica earlier today. It was not discovered until hours after close approach.
00:00 - Artemis 1 launches Monday on a 6-week round trip to the Moon. Trajectory courtesy of @NASAJPL Horizons. #Artemis @NASAArtemis orbitsimulator.com/gravitySimulatโฆ
GIF - The trajectory for the Artemis mission has been updated by @NASAJPL Horizons following Monday's cancelled launch. #Artemis is now scheduled to launch on Saturday, Sep 3, and return on Oct. 11. @NASAJPL @NASAArtemis
GIF - Impact! When 2022 EB5 struck the Earth north of Iceland this morning, it became the 5th asteroid to be discovered prior to impacting Earth.
GIF - Every 26,000 years, Polaris, Alderamin, Vega, and Thuban take turns being the North Star. Original GIF: Higher-res. More years. Less jumpy. Surprise ending. orbitsimulator.com/gravitySimulatโฆ
GIF - Earth has a 2nd moon. Newly-discovered asteroid 2024 JV8 has likely been orbiting the Earth for a few years, and will continue to do so for several more months. TY to @AdrienCoffinet for noticing this object's unique path. GIF: orbitsimulator.com/BA/2024_JV8.gif
GIF - Newly-discovered #asteroid 2023 NT1 passed about 1/4 the Moon's distance on July 13, but wasn't discovered until July 15, as it approached Earth in the daytime sky. It may be as large as 60 meters across, possibly larger than the asteroid that caused Meteor Crater in Arizona.
GIF 
00:00- Saturn has 128 newly-discovered moons. Here they are color-coded by their MPEC release. Orange: MPEC 2025 E153, Purple: MPEC 2025-E154, Green: MPEC 2025-E155.
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